New Avios redemptions …. Finnair adds flights to Busan whilst Iberia adds Cairo

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• Anna says:

  11 Jul11 July 16:21

  OT – re the possibility of pilot strikes next month. I was browsing the FT compo thread and this is the case which upheld the view the strikes do not amount to extraordinary circumstances –
  Helga Krüsemann and Others v TUIfly GmbH, case C-195/17
  Moreover, this was a “wildcat” strike and not one notified in advance as in the case of the BA pilots – it was ruled that only 3rd party strikes are now classed as extraordinary.

  • Shoestring says:

    11 Jul11 July 16:38

    I still don’t buy this logic where BALPA/ pilots are concerned, if there is in effect a general strike of a high % of BA pilots. (There’s no precedent set from the case cited, though it is of course of interest.)

    Underlying the extraordinary circs argument in EC261 is the concept: [an air carrier is to be released from its obligation to pay passengers compensation under Article 7 of Regulation No 261/2004 if the carrier can prove that the cancellation or delay is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.]

    I just don’t see how more pilots could be found for more than a few flights, even if BA have (say) 2 weeks to plan for the strike.

    I definitely don’t agree (and I don’t reckon the UK interpretation of EC261 will, either) that in all cases, in-house strike never equals extraordinary circumstances. Ie BALPA/ pilots strike is a very different situation to cabin crew strike.

    • Shoestring says:

      11 Jul11 July 16:43

      You could ask yourself: does a widely observed BALPA strike over pay sound similar to this situation?:

      [Article 5(3) of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 295/91, read in the light of recital 14 thereof, must be interpreted as meaning that the spontaneous absence of a significant part of the flight crew staff (‘wildcat strikes’), such as that at issue in the disputes in the main proceedings, which stems from the surprise announcement by an operating air carrier of a restructuring of the undertaking, following a call echoed not by the staff representatives of the company but spontaneously by the workers themselves who placed themselves on sick leave, is not covered by the concept of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ within the meaning of that provision.]

      • Anna says:

        11 Jul11 July 17:38

        The ruling was quite clear that “extraordinary circumstances” only applies to 3rd party strikes (e.g. I suppose, ATC). It didn’t differentiate between types of in-house employees. But, proof of the pudding and all that…

        • Lady London says:

          12 Jul12 July 11:19

          I think a new ruling would be distinguished from the case you mention – and thank you very much for finding and sharing it Anna – and not give compo due to the factors mentioned by Shoestring. Duty of care looks like it will apply but not compo.

          One could argue that an irreplaceable pilot is no more irreplaceable than a needed aircraft part (which is 100% the airline’s fault and gives compo under EU261). But I think enough of the judiciary may view that a strike by a union the great majority of pilots belong to is not necessarily the fault of the airline.

          We don’t want to see EU261 become too unfair to airlines otherwise it will be repealed or diluted out of existence.

    • Sussex Bantam says:

      11 Jul11 July 17:00

      Presumably the argument is that the Airline should maintain decent relationships with its workforce. If this relationship falls down to the extent that strike action takes place then the Airline must be at least partially responsible for this. This would differentiate from a third party strike.

      Not saying its right but there is at least some logic behind that argument…

      • Shoestring says:

        11 Jul11 July 17:37

        I’d like it to be true, ie that in-house strike always = NOT extraordinary circumstances.

        Jury still out on that. The cases are heading that way, to be sure.

        • Anna says:

          11 Jul11 July 17:40

          Thank goodness it won’t actually be a jury which decides though…!

• illuminatus says:

  11 Jul11 July 16:51

  OT – what’s the best approach to getting delayed flight compensation from BA? I have generally been very lucky with my flights over the recent years (~50 min delays max and rare), but last Thursday my wife’s flight to Tenerife was delayed for 4+ hours. All BA has bothered to do is send some rubbish email not so much apologising but rather explaining how they cared about our safety etc.

  Should we email BA first for some friendly settlement? Or follow the EU guidelines straight away?

  • Anna says:

    11 Jul11 July 17:42

    What was the reason for the delay?

  • AJA says:

    11 Jul11 July 17:48

    I can see from Flightradar that the BA2664 from LGW to TFS on 4 July 2019 departed at 19:06 instead of 14:05 and arrived at TFS at 22:53 instead of 18:40. Is that the flight? If so you should definitely contact BA and claim under EU261/2004. The following is a guide for when your flight is delayed or cancelled:
    https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/delayed-or-cancelled-flights/compensation

    You can complete an online claim on the BA website here:
    https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/help-and-contacts/complaints-and-claims

    It is very straightforward. I used it to claim for a delayed flight from Seville on the day of the EU referendum in 2016. We were delayed by over 5 hours. The claim was acknowledged by BA and paid out in less than two weeks, received over £800 as they also compensated our taxi which cost over £100 at 3am.

    I also helped a neighbour do the same for a delayed flight from Athens a year ago, he received a similar amount within 2 weeks of me completing the form.

    • illuminatus says:

      12 Jul12 July 10:51

      Yes, that’s the flight, thank you for a detailed reply.

• robman says:

  11 Jul11 July 17:03

  Hello,
  If I upgrade a cash economy ticket to business class using Avios – do I earn the tier points of business class? Thanks for your help.

  • Rob says:

    11 Jul11 July 17:21

    No. Used to happen occasionally by accident but BA seems to have sorted it.

  • BJ says:

    11 Jul11 July 19:23

    Unlikely you would buy an economy ticket that can be upgraded to CW, not sure that’s even possible if the route has WTP.

    @Rob, thanks for update on the CW avios, I was unaware it had been fixed.

    • TokyoFan says:

      11 Jul11 July 22:40

      We got J tier points and avios in March when we upgraded WT+ to CW JFK-LGW

• James says:

  11 Jul11 July 18:26

  Still don’t have that spend x get y offer. So obviously not all cardholders still (platinum).

  • Polly says:

    12 Jul12 July 15:07

    We have nothing on all 5 cards….

• Navara says:

  11 Jul11 July 19:21

  Good news! You can now collect 10 Avios per £1 spent when you buy tickets and refreshments at ODEON cinemas across the UK and Ireland (excludes online bookings).

  It’s so simple to collect Avios at ODEON – just register your credit or debit card(s) once and you’ll automatically get Avios added to your AerClub account every time you spend on your registered card. And it’s not just at ODEON

• Nick_C says:

  11 Jul11 July 21:45

  Ana’s new business class looks rather nice!

  https://www.ana.co.jp/group/en/pr/201907/20190711.html?cid=EMMLON20190711GBAMCEN

  https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=QXGRW2oyl7Y

  • Rob says:

    11 Jul11 July 22:18

    It does. Article on Sat.

• Harry T says:

  11 Jul11 July 22:02

  OT:
  BA are sending out an email advertising:
  “As a member of the British Airways Executive Club, you will collect 30,000 bonus Avios when you spend £3,000 in the first 3 months of Cardmembership. That’s enough for a Club Europe return flight to Rome or Barcelona. Just be sure to apply via the link in this email before 28 July 2019.”

  So that’s an increase of 5k Avios over the usual sign up bonus, presuming you’re not referred.

  I want to get the BAPP in the next couple of months. I could refer myself from the Platinum for the usual bonus, but this BA offer is only via an email link.

  It’s 30,000 guaranteed bonus Avios if I hit the spend Vs 26k guaranteed Avios + possibly 12k Membership Rewards if I self refer for a BAPP.

  Thoughts?

  • Louise says:

    11 Jul11 July 22:43

    Refer yourself!

    • Harry T says:

      11 Jul11 July 23:00

      Does self referral definitely work? Do you get the referral bonus? I’ve not tried it before.

      • Polly says:

        12 Jul12 July 15:09

        Yes it works.

  • Mark2 says:

    11 Jul11 July 22:55

    If you self refer you will still have to do the spend.
    Does not see to require much head-scratching!

• Graham Walsh says:

  11 Jul11 July 22:05

  Think it was mentioned the other day. I called virgin to cancel my rewards + card as cant use up the vouchers etc. Was told I can’t until I clear the balance. She said she could put a termination on the account but couldn’t confirm if the annual payment would be charged or not. I had to clear the balance. So I paid online via debit card to clear it. Not sure how you can terminate a card and yet they might charge you. Not good in my view.

  • Louise says:

    11 Jul11 July 22:41

    That was me, I have cleared my balance but left the £160 fee that they put on a month early.
    I am going to ring up again tomorrow to cancel and argue they shouldn’t have charged the 160 a month early anyway, plus why should I pay it and then wait for a refund!

    • Graham Walsh says:

      11 Jul11 July 22:47

      Totally agree with you Louise.

    • Doug M says:

      11 Jul11 July 23:32

      I was charged the £160 in the month before the month of the charge last year too, month early as I saw it. I cancelled, was cancelling anyway. Agent couldn’t clear the charge but said it would be done and I’d get the confirmation email when it had been processed. Couple of days later the email confirming cancellation arrived. Virgin card is great the first year, so so after that. That voucher just doesn’t do it.

  • Nick_C says:

    12 Jul12 July 04:09

    It’s better to pay Virgin MC by faster payment. Goes through in a couple of hours. Debit card payments can take a couple of days.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.